Yolo County rates high in state in terms of health

When it come to the healthiest county in California, San Mateo is tops, but Yolo isn’t far behind.

That was the conclusion of the eighth annual County Health Rankings, released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Among the 42 counties tabulated of the state’s 58 counties, Yolo came in at No. 14. Dead last was Modoc County.

The results were about the same as in 2016, when Yolo ranked No. 12.

In 2016 Marin came in at No. 1—for the seventh straight year. This year, Marin “fell” to No. 2 behind San Mateo.

“By surfacing issues like drug overdoses, lack of education and job opportunities for youth, and the need for integrated care, the County Health Rankings help us understand where we should be making strategic investments in health,” said Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of the Public Health Institute, based in Oakland. “The 2017 Rankings point to an urgent need to make sure that clinical providers and public health practitioners are working closely together to make sure everyone can access care-and that we are working to prevent people from getting sick in the first place.”

An easy-to-use snapshot that compares counties within states, the Rankings show that where you live influences how well and how long you live.

The local level data makes it clear that good health is influenced by many factors beyond medical care including housing, education, jobs, access to healthy foods, and more. This year we took a closer look at premature deaths—or deaths that occur among people under age 75. Exploring California’s premature death trends from 1997 to 2014, we find 42 counties have seen improvements in premature death rates, while three have seen worsening rates and the rest saw no change.